Hey guys, as promised, here's the first chapter of the story. Now, to answer some of the reviews.
-Kinunatzs: Exoskeletons and Hardimans will make an appearance. Those are infantry use equipment, and we haven't exactly seen any infantry yet...as Eezo tech, I've opted not to give humans that. There will be some stuff based on G-Elements, but thats all.
-Robo Reader 21: The timeline is because there is a very long span between the events of Alternative and Mass Effect. And it does reduce the amount of exposition I need to explain things that happened in the past, like how the Prothean Archives on Mars are ruins, or why Humanity doesn't use Eezo, etc. As for the BETA, I'M GIVING THEM THE STUPID STICK! Humans haven't explored very far, so we don't actually know how far the BETA are really spread. Despite how close together Earth might look to Citadel Space, really its a distance of thousands of light years. There are millions of stars in that space.
-Jouaint: Thanks
-Mr. Guest appearance: I have fixed the issue of the ruins in the timeline.
-ferduran: if you don't know the background of Muv-Luv (maybe I should do a codex entry on it), but G-Elements are anything but man-made. They are obtained from the Reactors inside BETA Hives.
23rd April, 2157
General Fred Williams stood on the observation deck of the UNS Athens, watching the ships TSFs and strike fighters deploy to the surface as the assaults vanguard.
The deck shuddered as the Athens' guns began bombarding the hive.
I wonder what the casualty reports will be like this time, thought Williams. Even with the significant advancements in technology and hive-assault tactics over the last century, most assault forces took at least forty percent casualties, wounded or dead. Ten percent would be lost during the initial drop, and the rest inside the chaos of the hive interior. But humanity had learnt a lot of lessons from the disasters of early hive intrusions, and from the near failure of Operation OUKA, over a century and a half ago, which had resulted in over 99 percent casualties in the Objective 01 assault force.
Let's try to keep them low. He signalled the CIC, "This is the General. Maintain the bombardment until the Helljumpers are about to hit. Strike fighters are free to engage at their discretion. Just tell them to watch for laser fire. I want the 81st and 105nd Light Assault Battalions, along with the 43rd and 258th Light Armoured to drop in to support the vanguard. But I want a few squadrons of Utes held in reserve to act as fast response."
This is going to be a long day.
"All drop-shell detonations confirmed. Good luck, Helljumpers."
2nd Lieutenant Mari Bridges of the United Nations Marine Corps 54th Orbital Diver Battalion Helljumpers let out a nervous chuckle as the lead lined drop-shell that had encased her F-62 Comet Tactical Surface Fighter broke apart around her, exposing her fighter to the atmosphere and the possibility of Laser-fire. This is going to be hell. I would have preferred my first drop to be against a regular swarm, not a damned Hive. Ah well, shikata ga nai.
"Oi, Bridges, you awake in there?" said a voice over the squad-net.
The voice belonged to one 1st Lieutenant Sasha Ivanova. "Remember, kid, cloak as soon as you can. That'll keep you alive."
"Hai, El-Tee."
"Good. Now, I'd better see you on the ground."
Mari nodded, before cutting the link. Then she put her Comet into a barely controlled spin, to avoid possible laser hits.
And sure enough, a beam burned through the extremities of the heavy metal cloud that had previously been her shell. That was a close one. I thought that they weren't supposed to miss.
As her Comet began to approach its target altitude, Mari triggered her ECF, turning her TSF into a shimmering heat-blur. She would still be visible to the Laser-class on the ground, but they would be less likely to target her. And then her Jump-units dialled up to full thrust, the deceleration rate so high that Mari could feel her neural link threatening to disconnect.
Captain Smith's face appeared in the squad-net. "Bridges, Feng, you're coming in too fast!"
Mari squeezed out a nod against the g-forces, as she rode her Comet down. And then her velocity hit the maximum safe level, and her turbines automatically dialled down, bringing the fighter to a relatively gentle touchdown, which was if landing on top of a Tank-class and crushing it under her feet could be considered gentle. Gentle probably wasn't the right word. The phrase "Like a shooting star" probably fit the landing better.
Mari took a moment to shake off the shock of the impact, before taking a look around.
And found herself surrounded by Tanks. Fuck.
She fumbled briefly, trying to bring her AMWS-31B Support Assault Cannon into firing position. While she was trying to get herself into the fight, several Tanks took the opportunity to leap onto her exposed Comet.
Only to be shredded by a burst of 20mm hypersonic cannon fire.
"Dammit, kid, I told you to stay alive."It was 1st Lt Ivanova. Looking in Ivanova's direction, Mari could pick out the computer generated outlines marking the rest of the cloaked Helljumpers' 3rd Squadron. Except for 2nd Lt Feng, whose signal was conspicuously absent.
"Sorry Sasha," said Mari apologetically. She finally had her cannon up and slamming magnetically accelerated high explosive rounds into the horde of Tanks approaching their position.
After about thirty seconds of firing, the seven TSFs had cleared the area of BETA, giving Mari the opportunity to take a good look at their surroundings. They seemed to be in a clearing, with a large forest of tree-analogues covering the area to the south and west, steep cliffs to the north, and, according to the data-feed from the Athens and the Atlantis, about six kilometres from the Hive entrance that had been assigned to their squadron. Apparently, the mechanised infantry, assault tanks and Utes from the 81st and 43rd were already en-route from their landing zones, and would arrive at the Hive within the hour, assuming they weren't devoured first. Despite all the advances to battle tank design over the last century and a half, the only advantages they had in combat were the ability to outrun Tank-classes and Destroyers, and guns and targeting systems capable of kill said Tanks while outrunning them.
Captain Morgan Smith began dishing out orders, "Alright, Marines, we're moving out. Bridges, Ivanova, I want you two cloaked and on top of that cliff. Pick off any Laser-class that you see, and cover us while we approach the Hive. Once we're in, you two will link up with the elements of the 81st and 43rd Light Battalions and support their advance towards the Hive. Move out. Now, everyone else, with me!"
"OORAH!"
"Sir, we will be exiting the Relay shortly."
"Thank you, Ensign," replied Captain Decius Fortix. The captain of the Turian Hierarchy cruiser Indomitable took a moment to review his orders from the Citadel Fleet. Reconnoitre the system on the other side of Relay 314 for possible threats to the Citadel. Survey the system for possible colonisation efforts and resources. Protect the science team.
All fairly routine, especially since the Council had loosened the ban on Relay activation. The law had been revised so that inactive relays could be activated, with permission from the Council and an escort from the Citadel Fleet. Get in; spend a few hours looking around, maybe a few hours poking around if there were any planets of interest, leave.
"Sir, we are clear of the Relay, drifting at eight kilometres. Radar and Ladar are clear. No contacts."
"Good. Tactical, I want us off the grid. Activate the emission shrouds and radar absorbers."
Most military ships these days had a propensity towards remaining hidden, just in case someone decided to investigate.
"We're invisible, sir."
"Very good, men," replied Fortix, although he knew it was a lie. Anyone within range with good enough eyes could pick out the white and red painted warship, just by looking out a view-port.
"Alright, sensory, begin the survey. We've all been issued leave for tomorrow by Command, and I'm sure you all don't want to miss that." There was a round of "Yes sir's" from the crew.
The crew of the Indomitable never detected the array of small monitoring satellites orbiting the Relay, which lost sight of them the moment their radar and thermal signatures disappeared.
Aboard the Athens, several minutes later.
"General," the young lieutenant at the sensory console spoke up, "Probes 12 through 15 detected an anomaly near the Theta relay. Something popped up on their sensors, but disappeared shortly after."
Williams pulled up the data feed on the holo-tank. Athens' AI, Deja, popped up next to it.
"General, I believe it may have been a ship. Before the anomaly vanished, one of the probes took this image." An image of a pinkish blur appeared on the display. "I believe this is the ship."
"Alright, Deja, I'll trust your judgement on this. Put the fleet on alert, but only the ships command staff and AI's. Have the Canberra investigate the relay, see if this thing is still in the area."
"Yes, General."
I have enough on my plate without having to deal with a possible first contact. Hell, we don't even have first contact protocols anymore. Not since we found the BETA outside Sol.
The Indomitable.
"Would you look at that, sir," said Ensign Victus, the sensory officer. "Looks like we might have ourselves a garden world. Spectral analysis of atmosphere shows 75 percent nitrogen, 22 percent oxygen, and 3 percent a mix of harmless inert gases. Surface temperature a few degrees below Palaven average. Seems like we hit the jackpot."
"Alright, the yolk-heads will want more details than that. Get us some more data on the planet."
Victus made some tweaks to the sensor systems, expanding the data collection range. He waited a few minutes for the readings to be received by the sensors and the data processed by the ship's VI. Hmm...Three continents, surface is 80 percent water, green and red colouration possibly indicative of chlorophyll or similar analogues in the flora, and what is that? Huh? That can't be right!
"General!" Victus exclaimed. "The sensors are detecting ships in orbit of the planet. "
"Spirits. They can't have come through 314, we just activated that. Which means they must be from outside Citadel space. We may be looking at a possible first contact. There was a first contact specialist aboard, correct?"
"There is, sir," said one of the bridge technicians, "an Asari named Arys Daela."
"Good. Helm, quietly bring us closer to the planet. I want to get a closer look at them before we make contact."
"Yes, sir."
Spirits, looks like we may not be getting that leave after all.
UNS Atlantis, 81st Light Assault Battalion, C Company launch bay.
"Shit, Sarge, why are we the ones on standby?" asked a frustrated Corporal James Dunn. "The rest of the battalion is on the ground, fighting for their lives, and we're stuck up here!" His colour turned orange tinged red.
"You dumbass, if you'd paid attention during the briefing you'd know that us and the rest of C and E Companies are on Rapid Reaction duty," replied a very annoyed Gunnery Sergeant Natassa Alenko. Red-grey.
"I know that Sarge, I mean, 'Why us?' specifically?" Blue-grey.
Alenko sighed, "As far as I can tell, they picked out of a helmet. I know son, I want to be down there just as much as the next Marine. But we have orders." Blue-red.
Private First Class Shizuka Yoruda quietly listened in on the conversation taking place below as she sat in the cockpit of her F-61A Phoenix II micro-TSF. She was having issues with the fighters targeting matrix, which stubbornly refused to sync properly with her AWS-38 20mm cannon. The guns were fresh from the repair shop, after a run-in with a construction crane during a patrol at Arcturus Station. She was having Ariel, the C Company AI, help her out, since she couldn't interpret the data streams that connected the weapon system to the targeting computer of the Phoenix II. She absently twirled the silver streak in her otherwise youthfully brown hair.
"Zuka", said Ariel, using Shizuka's nickname amongst the squad, "I believe you need to purge your computers targeting data for this gun, and recalibrate the entire system again. Hard reset the gun first, and then I will do the rest."
"Doumo, Ariel," Shizuka replied as she climbed out of the cockpit to fiddle with the cannon.
Indomitable
"Sir, we've reached the designate orbital point, and we are trailing 20,000 kilometres aft of the unidentified ships. Beginning optical observation….now."
"Thank you Ensign," replied Fortix.
It was several agonising minutes before Victus signalled the Captain that the observations were complete.
"So what are we dealing with?"
"None of the ships match any known patterns or makes in the database, sir. Some of them are even bigger than our dreadnoughts. And none of the radiation associate with Eezo use either. It looks like we might actually be dealing with a new species."
"No eezo on ships that size? Hmm, the Salarian engineers aboard should probably take a look at that later."
"Also the ships appear to be….firing."
"At each other? Please tell me we haven't stepped right into a war."
Victus shook his head. "No sir, they appear to be firing at the something on the surface."
Fortix clicked his mandibles. "If they weren't a new species, I'd write this up as a violation of Citadel Laws and call the fleet in on them." He paused. "Can we see what they're firing at?"
"No sir, the cloud cover is too thick from this angle, and radar is ineffective at this range. And if we move any closer, we risk being detected."
"Alright, Tactical, send in the Lieutenant Vakarian's security team and Dr Daela in one of the stealth shuttles."
The officer in question nodded.
AI Deja, Athens
Deja watched through the optical sensors as the alien ship launched its shuttle. She had picked it up several minutes ago when it popped out of its version of FTL and immediately masked its emissions. But she had already spotted it with the dozens of cameras mounted on the exterior of the ship, as had the AI's of the other ships in the fleet. They had already informed General Williams of the discovery, and were patiently awaiting his decision. It was took all of fifteen seconds for the General to make up his mind.
"Deja, are you and the other AI's tracking the shuttle?"
"Yes, General. It appears to be approaching Hive 02, most likely to observe the target of our orbital bombardment. The cloud cover approaching from the west appears to be blocking their optical sensors."
"Hmm…alright, have the 81st's Rapid Reaction units on standby in case something happens to these aliens. We haven't cleared out all the Laser-class yet, so they might need assistance. And it might help to make a good impression on these aliens, especially given that they have technology."
"Yes, sir."
Shuttle 12, above unidentified planet.
Lieutenant Sorus Vakarian watched out the right-side viewport of the stealth shuttle as the landscape flashed past. There wasn't much to see except enormous forests. There was so little to see that Sorus was stuck thinking about what there was to bombard. Trees, trees, oh look, more trees, hmm that's a funny looking rock. Why is it green?
And then a laser beam took out the shuttle's right wing.
Vakarian made sure he was locked in tight as the shuttle began is death spiral towards the ground, as the pilot fought the controls in vain.
Well, shit. What a bad way to start a mission. Looks like that leave is going to have to wait a while. I hope Kyria and the kids are okay with it, thought Vakarian, as the shuttle slammed into the ground.
Athens, CIC.
"General, the alien shuttle has been shot down," said Deja, in her ever calm voice.
"Well, time to earn humanity some good points in these aliens books. Drop the Phoenixes."
"Yes General."
A few minutes later
Vakarian carried the wounded Asari contact expert over his shoulder, running as fast as he could. Those damned red...monsters had eaten two of his men when they'd stepped forwards to greet the aliens in the place of the injured doctor, and then they'd torn the downed shuttle apart and eaten it, both parts and all. And then they'd found that their Vindicator Rifles were next to useless against them.
And now Vakarian, along with the two surviving members of his security team were running for their lives across the forest floor, praying to the Spirits that the trees would slow the monsters down. It was not until they reached the clearing that Vakarian realised how utterly screwed they were. The six legged monsters were approaching from almost every direction, and they were moving fast.
Vakarian lowered the doctor to the ground and shouldered his Vindicator. Troopers Karick and Piran did the same. We aren't going down without a fight.
Airspace near Hive 02.
The Marines of C and E Companies, 81st Light Armoured Battalion, United Nations Marine Corps, fell towards the ground through an enormous hail of orbitally fired anti-laser shells and clouds of anti-laser smoke, aiming for the clearing that the aliens had been tracked to. Unfortunately, there was an entire regiment of Tanks converging on that clearing, so they'd be extracting the survivors in a D-22 Sabretooth dropship.
Shizuka switched her tactical feed off and double checked her targeting system. Ariel had ironed out all the bugs, but she wanted to be sure.
As the TSFs reached the maximum stealth altitude, the fusion engines powering their Jump Units dialled up, just enough to reach the ground alive, but not enough to break the ECF.
Then Shizuka's Phoenix approached the ground. And for someone whose name meant "quiet", she was about to make a very loud entrance.
Lieutenant Sorus Vakarian levelled his rifle at the first of the red monsters in sight, which was just outside the 200 metre mark but closing fast. And then he heard it.
It was like a roar that he had never heard before, like some kind of mythical beast. He looked up, searching for the source of the noise, before he realised that it was all around him. And then there was a series of metallic thumps, but there was nothing in sight, only the hoard of monsters emerging from the forest.
Then he heard a voice shout, in a language he had never heard before.
"Marines. OPEN FIRE!"
And then all around him were dozens of grey and green titans, silver wings spreading from their backs, the enormous guns in their metal hands jackhammering away at the horde.
Sorus was so entranced by the iron angels that he barely even registered being dragged along with Karick, Piram and Daela up the ramp of the waiting dropship.
Codex – Tactical Surface Fighters:
When the BETA first arrived on Earth, Humanity's main advantage was the gratuitous application of airborne firepower. This changed once the first Laser-class emerged from the Kashgar Hive. Not long after, the US Military unveiled its latest weapon, the F-4 Phantom Tactical Surface Fighter. For the next 70 years of warfare, the TSF remained the primary weapon of Humanity in the fight against the BETA.
Over the course of the war, and afterwards, numerous changes occurred in TSF design and combat doctrine:
Initially, TSFs were used as walking tanks, piloted by fighter pilots. Because of this, casualty rates during early engagements resulted in massacres, and lead to the coining of the infamous "8 minutes of death." Afterwards, TSFs shifted towards higher mobility designs over heavy armour, further emphasised by the "Hi-Lo Mix" approach to combat.
At present, there are five classes of TSF:
-The Heavy (Hi) TSF, for long endurance, long range combat.
-The Light (Lo) TSF, cheaper, easier to produce fighters with shorter endurance but similar combat performance.
-The "Medium" TSF, which are rarely seen now, but were attempts to merge the two design philosophies of Hi-Lo TSFs. The last Medium TSF used in UN Military service was the F-44 Raven, which was retired in 2089 after only 8 years in service.
-The micro-TSF (also known as Patrol/Recon Fighters, Utes and Phoenixes), were a very successful attempt at multipurpose TSFs. They are primarily aimed at infantry support, urban combat and base defence, but are also issued to reconnaissance units. Range in size from 9 to 13 metres tall.
-The Tactical Surface Attacker, a variation on TSF design revisiting the original F-4 Phantom combat doctrine. TSAs rely on heavy armour and their godly amounts of firepower, but are known for their incredibly poor mobility.
The TSFs currently in UN Marine Corps and Navy service are the F-60 Yukikaze II (Hi), F-62 Comet (Lo), F-61 Phoenix II (micro) and A-25 Raider III. The UN Army, which focuses primarily on the defence of already colonised worlds, is equipped with the older F-57 Nightmare (Hi), F-59 Gryphon (Lo), F-55 Wedgetail (micro) and A-23 Vigilante II. The United Nations, after Unification, adopted a fighter numbering system based on the old United States system, continuing on after the F-42 Phoenix, the original micro-TSF. However, there are several differences in this system. First, "F-"designations are only assigned after a TSF has been adopted for service. Second, no numbers are skipped, for whatever reason, to avoid situations similar to the ridiculous number of unassigned designations between the F-24 Hellcat and the YF-32 Erne and F-35 Lightning II. Third, designations are assigned chronologically, so there are none that go backwards through the system, such as the F-24 Hellcat, which was introduced 2 years after the F-35 Lightning II.
Codex – The United Nations:
The United Nations is the governing body of Humanity, having superseded the old national governments in 2077. While national governments still have nominal control over their countries and people, the UN General Assembly has the final say in all non-domestic matters.
The UN governs by way of representative democracy, with each nation or bloc electing their officials to represent them in the General Assembly.
Colonies are also allowed to join the General Assembly, once they reach a certain stage of development.
Due to nations aggregating and unifying prior to Unification, the General Assembly is only made up of approximately 30 states. The aggregate superstates are the North American Union, the European Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the African Union, the United States of Japan and Korea, the United Republic of China, the Commonwealth of Australasia, the Organisation of South East Asian Nations (OSEAN), the Saharan Republic, and the South American Coalition. Other prominent nations include the Brazilian Empire, the Lunar Republic, the Mars Confederated States, the Outer Planets Union, and Haven.
The United Nations Military is made up of:
-UN Army: The successor to the original UN Army from the BETA Wars, the UN Army primarily defends Earth and the colonies, acting mostly like a reserve force to be called up in times of emergency or war.
-UN Aerospace Force: Similar to the UN Army, the UNAF militarily commands the airspace of all colonies up to high orbit. It primarily uses Strike Fighter and bomber aircraft, but also has ground vehicles and TSFs.
-UN Navy: The long-arm of humanity out into the stars. The Navy operates the all the warships created by Humanity.
-UN Marine Corps: Descended from the various military marine forces of the assimilated nations within the UN, including the US Marines, British Royal Marines, the Spanish, French and Italian Marines, the Imperial Japanese Naval Infantry and the ANZAC Marines. The primary military ground force of Humanity out amongst the stars.
Due to the possible threat of further BETA incursions in the Sol System, and out in the colonies, especially ones that were once home to the BETA, the UN military enforces military training as part of the educational curriculum. Students are given thorough infantry training, along with rudimentary armoured vehicle or TSF training. Students may opt to continue their training once complete, and those that do may join the UN military immediately with minimal time in basic training.